"Heh, you must be Danzo's secret weapon. It's a pity. Don't you think your Wood Release is a bit outdated by now?"
As the secret weapon Danzo had always hidden within Root, Kinoe—or rather, Yamato—was undoubtedly the kind of figure kept strictly under wraps. This meant that to maintain the secret, it was impossible for Danzo to seek out Vegapunk to develop or modify Yamato. Thus, his Wood Release proficiency remained no different from the original story.
In the original story, Yamato was merely an Elite Jonin-level Ninja, who at most was somewhat troublesome among Elite Jonin due to Wood Release's ability to absorb Chakra. At his current age, Yamato's strength, even accounting for his Wood Release abilities, had only just reached the lower threshold of an Elite Jonin.
So the question arose: why did Danzo think an Elite Jonin could assassinate the Third Hokage? Even if the title of'Strongest Hokage' was just hot air, the Third Hokage surely wouldn't be taken down by a single Elite Jonin!
After finishing his internal critique, Nagato turned to look at Yamato, this relic of a bygone era. Speaking of which, Yamato's potential was actually quite good, especially since he had undergone the fusion with Senju Hashirama's cells and completely assimilated their power. Clearly, his constitution was special, making him an ideal experimental subject.
If he were in Vegapunk's hands, he would definitely reach Kage-level at the very least, and a formidable one at that. It was a pity he was wasted by Danzo.
As a clone of Vegapunk himself, Nagato naturally couldn't tolerate such a thing. He found yet another reason why that old scoundrel Danzo deserved to die.
Seeing his initial strike fail, Yamato stepped back two paces and formed hand signs: "Wood Release: Wood Clone!"
Small pieces of wood sprouted from Yamato's body, quickly transforming into four perfect physical clones. However, before Yamato could make a move, Nagato sneered and clapped his hands together: "I told you, your version of Wood Release is outdated!"
"Wood Release: Deep Forest Emergence!"
Trees surged forth with a thunderous roar, and a moment later, Yamato and his clones were all hung high upon the branches. Currently, Yamato truly had no highlights to speak of. If Nagato hadn't considered him a decent experimental subject, he could have finished him off in a single move.
After plucking out Shisui's eyes and placing them into a glass test tube filled with a prepared solution, Nagato continued forward.
In reality, Uchiha Shisui was already considered the ace of Root. Even if the remaining members had been modified by Vegapunk, their strength was only comparable to Yamato's. Nagato, having unleashed the "Wood Release: Deep Forest Emergence"—a masterstroke for clearing out fodder—encountered no further resistance as he advanced.
The dark corridor was filled with thick tree branches. Most of the Root Ninjas didn't even get a chance to act before being strung up.
He walked diagonally downward for two or three kilometers before leaving the range of his Wood Release Ninjutsu. Along the way, at least a hundred Root Ninjas had fallen to that single technique.
After those two or three kilometers, he had nearly reached the final secret base of Root. Even with the guidance of the Flying Thunder God Mark on Uzumaki Naruto, Nagato couldn't remember how many detours he had taken.
"I finally found it. If this place weren't underground, I would have just flattened it with a single Shinra Tensei!"
Looking at the iron door ahead and sensing the presence of his Flying Thunder God Mark behind it, Nagato let out a long breath. Then, he slammed a palm against the iron door, sending it flying.
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